HHT #178 Quantum Leap Thinking in Home Health Care

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Quantum Leap Thinking in Home Health Care

Strategies to Leap Ahead in 2010

January 27, 2010

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In this issue...

-- Quantum Leap Thinking In Home Health Care

-- Visualizing The Future Of Your Agency

-- Turning Vision Into Reality

-- Building Relationships With Physicians

-- Visualizing Your Agency Sales & Marketing Strategy

-- About the Author

-- Permission to Reproduce

Welcome,

...to Home Health Care Today! the leading electronic newsletter for CEOs and executives of Medicare Certified Home Health Agencies and Hospices.

Home Health Care Today is brought to you as a service of Leading Home Care ... a Tweed Jeffries company. We work with Medicare Certified Home Health Agencies that want to grow the number of Medicare Referrals that turn into admissions, and with Agencies that want to grow their private pay business.


Quantum Leap Thinking In Home Health Care

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It was deja vu all over again as I sat in the opening General Session of the Private Duty Home Care Association's Annual Leadership Conference in Phoenix this past Monday. The speaker was James Mapes, author of Quantum Leap Thinking. I flashed back to a time several years ago when I read his book, called him to discuss some of his principles, and found ways to apply them in my own business.

Quantum Leap Thinking is about a process for understanding your mind so that you can bypass fear and create a lasting vision. His principles enable you to break through fears, embrace change, and stay focused.

As you may recall, my first commercially published book is called Strategic Focus: A Gameplan for Developing Competitive Advantage. It's all about how companies can be more successful by focusing on doing one thing better than anyone else in their marketplace. I've worked for many years applying the Strategic Focus principles with home health agencies.

For the home care audience, Mapes talked about creating your reality through focus. "Where you focus not only directs your imagination, it creates your experience." He went on to say that you create the outcomes you want - or not - depending on the quality of your mental movie or vision. He says, "Focus on what you can control, and let go of what you can't control."

Let's look at how you can apply these principles to growing your home health care business in 2010. This is an uncertain time, and many home health executives are a bit tentative about the future. The real leaders, however, are creating a clear mental picture of a possible and desirable future - their Vision - and moving toward that future.


Visualizing The Future Of Your Agency

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What will your home health agency look like at the end of 2010? 2011? 2012?

Mapes talked about the process of visualization to create an exceptional life. You can apply these principles to create an exceptional agency.

Visualization is:

1. Conscious movie making of the future - in the present. As a leader, create a clear mental movie of what you want the future of your agency to look like.

2. Directing your imagination to act "as if." The master of "as if" thinking was Tom Watson, founder of IBM who taught his team to "act as if," even when IBM was a tiny company.

3. Making the invisible.... visible. As a leader, you need to see a clear mental movie of the future, and then help your home health team members see that vision.

4. Focus on where you want to go, not where you don't want to go. Keep you eye on your desired future, and don't allow yourself to be distracted by the fears of what might happen or what might go wrong.


Turning Vision Into Reality

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Having a clear mental movie of your desired future is one thing. Making it become real is another. That's where your team members come in.

What do you need to do to engage your key home health team members in seeing your vision and working together to make it a reality? That's where your executive strategy process comes in.

It's time to bring your senior team together to explore the vision, help them see the possibilities, and pull together around a common focus. The results will be amazing.

Over the past 25 years in home health care, I've led the strategic thinking process with two types of teams; the big picture teams, and the detailed action plan teams. Which one are you?

The big picture teams are the ones who come together to develop a clear vision and direction for the agency. They don't need to develop specific detailed action steps with target dates and "who to do." Each team member sees her or his role, and together they work toward the vision.

The detailed action plan teams are the ones who develop their mission, vision, values, and competitive strategy. They get a clear direction for the next three years, then develop a one-year action plan with large numbers of detailed action steps, target dates, budgets, and clear lines of responsibility. Then they use this detailed strategic action plan during their regular senior executive team meetings to guide their actions and make their vision come true.

Which one are you? There is no right or wrong. Either approach can work, depending on the culture of your company. In both cases, however, the key is execution. What are you going to do this year to make your vision become reality?

Need some help? We can work with you to create a clear mental movie of how you will grow your business and get ready for the future in 2010. Call us today at 502-339-0653 and ask for Julie Raque. She will set up a telephone appointment with Stephen Tweed to discuss your strategic visioning process for 2010.

Click here for more information.


Building Relationships With Physicians

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National Home Care and Hospice MonthOne of the most effective ways you can grow your home health care business is to build relationships with physicians. Research shows that the number one source of home health referrals is hospitals, and #2 is physicians. If you want to grow your business, learn to effectively connect with physicians.

In this interactive audio learning program, you will hear Stephen Tweed and Dr. M. Tray Dunaway discuss in detail specific techniques you can use to grow your business. Recorded live during a series of audio teleseminars, each CD gives you 60 minutes of valuable information, followed by a question and answer period with Dr. Dunaway.

The four programs are:

  • Special skills for communicating with physicians
  • Marketing techniques that work with physicians
  • Building relationships with physician's office staff
  • Marketing Specialty Home Care Programs to physicians

Order your copy today!


Visualizing Your Agency Sales & Marketing Strategy

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What do you see in the future for growth of your agency? What is your mental movie for your future sales and marketing process? How will you grow the number of Medicare patient referrals that turn into admissions.

The more clearly you can create the mental movie of your business growth, the easier it will be to make that vision become reality. At Leading Home Care, we focus on helping home health agencies grow their businesses and get ready for the future. We do that through our Home Health Business Builders Process, a proven model based on research, industry benchmarks, and best practices in sales and marketing.

If you would like to explore how you can achieve measurable growth in referrals that turn into admissions, call Julie Raque at 502-339-0653 to set up a telephone conference with Stephen Tweed. You'll be able to discuss in detail our home health business builders process.


About the Author

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Stephen Tweed, CSP, is Chairman and CEO of Leading Home Care ... a Tweed Jeffries company. For over 25 years he has been a recognized leader in strategy and leadership development for home care companies and associations that want to grow and get ready for the future. He is the author or co-author of five books, four of which were written specifically for the home care industry. He has served on the boards of directors of three not-for-profit home care agencies, and has served as interim President & CEO of a $25 million home care company.

Stephen is a past-President of the National Speakers Association, a 3500 member international society of experts who speak professionally. He is also the father of a 39 year-old son who is physically disabled and uses the services of home care on a daily basis

Grow Your Business, Get Ready For The Future


Permission to Reproduce

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Permission is granted to healthcare publications, associations and companies to reproduce this article in your publication, or to distribute copies to your leaders, on the condition that you reproduce the credits and contact information as follows: "Reprinted with permission from Home Health Care Today. Copyright 2009 Leading Home Care . . . a Tweed Jeffries company. To receive a FREE subscription to this newsletter, log on to www.leadinghomecare.com."



Contact Leading Home Care

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phone: 1-866-209-5101

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